Call for Examples – Updating Oregon’s Statutes

OANP’s legislative priority in 2017 will be a statute modernization bill to update the dozens of places in Oregon statute that have not kept up with the evolution of naturopathic doctors – and we need examples from you to share with legislators!

As the scope of practice of naturopathic doctors has progressed to include full pharmaceutical prescribing rights and recognition as primary care providers, many Oregon statutes use out-dated references to or definitions of “physician” which do not include or recognize NDs.

You’ve all encountered it: all of a sudden you find that an agency or entity won’t allow you to sign off on a form – like a disability form, or an Advance Directive, or a Return to Play for someone who’s had a concussion, or an IEP for a student.

You may be frustrated that NDs can prescribe anything needed in a primary care setting, including opioids and other narcotics, but cannot recommend a patient for a medical marijuana card. Or hospice care. Or in-home nursing care.

If you’ve encountered a barrier like these, please email your experience in as specific detail as possible to laura@oanp.org. We’ve done an exhaustive review of statutes, but need to make sure we’re capturing all the ways that you encounter barriers in day-to-day practice, which we will share with legislators as examples that these out-dated statues unnecessarily create barriers to timely and appropriate patient care.